The Week Unzipped: Halifax expects rise in prices to slow as housing market weakens

HOUSE prices have gone up by 6.6 per cent in the past year, the fastest annual rate of increase since October, according to the Halifax. But Britain's biggest mortgage lender stressed that market activity has weakened over the past few months and price rises have slowed down, with a slight fall of 0.1 per cent recorded in April. The Halifax predicts prices will be flat over the course of this year.

Meanwhile, the number of mortgages approved for home buyers rose in March, the Bank of England said, but activity remains fragile. Some 48,901 loans were approved in March, up from 46,882 the month before and 17 per cent higher than a year ago.

But the trend is far from encouraging. Over the first three months of the year, mortgage approvals for house purchase fell 18 per cent compared with the end of 2009, and in the run up to the end of the stamp duty holiday, according to the Bank of England. The number of new sale instructions has also risen, pushing up the stock of properties on the market and potentially dampening house prices.

No crunch for kids

POCKET money has not been a casualty of the credit crunch, especially in Glasgow where children typically receive more than 250 a year from their parents.

Glaswegian youngsters receive money as early as age four, and at an average of 4.87 a week they will amass as much as 3,545 by the time they are 18.

Nationally, mums and dad typically give their offspring 4.08 a week. Two-thirds of children have to do chores such as tidying their bedroom to earn their pocket money.

Despite economic pressures on families, just 7 per cent have reduced the amount of money their give to their children.

Debt relief

WHILE Scottish businesses are going under at a rate of knots, individuals seem to be coping better with their debts, according to the Insolvency Service.

There was a 70 per cent increase in Scottish firms imploding during the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year, with 275 being forced into compulsory liquidations. Yet individual bankruptcies were down nearly 10 per cent with a 17 per cent fall in sequestrations.

Web savings debut

CHELSEA Building Society has launched its e-Saver Reward account, which pays 2.57 per cent. This is the building society's first online account. Savers must be aged 16 or over and can invest between 1 and 1,000,000. Withdrawals can be made online to a nominated account with Chelsea or another provider with only a loss of interest in the month of withdrawal.

Mortgage offers

CLYDESDALE and Yorkshire banks are offering 50 per cent off arrangement fees and contents insurance with their new range of mortgages.

The discounts are available for new customers moving home or remortgaging. The savings apply to a new range of products which include residential fixed deals, discounted offset products and rapid/flexi replay mortgages.

The half-price contents insurance is available to new and existing customers when they take out buildings cover.